Bluetooth Dongle

[R.Youden]

Hi. I have got two Macs with BlueTooth built in and I love it, especially text messaging through Address Book. Anyway my girlfreind also has two Macs (do Apple give commission?) but without BlueTooth. She has recently got a BlueTooth phone and needs a dongle. I have seen this one: D-Link DBT-120. From what I have seen it looks the best. It will be to sync with a Sony S700i which have a few issues with Mac. Will this add anymore problems using a dongle. With a bit of playing around the S700i syncs fine with my two computers.

[James Philp]

Originally Posted by Richard Youden

Hi. I have got two Macs with BlueTooth built in and I love it, especially text messaging through Address Book. Anyway my girlfreind also has two Macs (do Apple give commission?) but without BlueTooth. She has recently got a BlueTooth phone and needs a dongle. I have seen this one: D-Link DBT-120. From what I have seen it looks the best. It will be to sync with a Sony S700i which have a few issues with Mac. Will this add anymore problems using a dongle. With a bit of playing around the S700i syncs fine with my two computers.

NO.
I use the DBT-120 and literally it's plug and play PB G3 pismo). (You know the BT symbol in the menu bar? - pull it out and you get a jagged line through, shove it it - just like it was installed inside the computer! - try that with ANY PC!)
It's just like having it installed, and I notice the transfer speeds from the dongle on the G3 are actually faster than those from my iMac G4 built-in BlueTooth :P

P.S:
It's the same sort of thing with AirPort Cards. The one I have in my PCMCIA card of my PB (they stopped making the internal one just before I decided to buy, and price sky-rocketed!) works EXACTLY like the internal one in my iMac (But you gat a little menu item to power the PCMCIA card on/off (always turn airport off before card power off or crash time!))

BUT - Bear in mind that BT 2 is out soon!

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Any dongle should work just fine (I've used a Keyspan to connect to my SonyEricsson T68i for a couple of years now from a Pismo and an iBook - no problems).

The D-Link in question should perform even better with your Mac, IIRC, because i think it is updated through Apples Bluetoots firmware updates (just note that, if that's right, this may make it useless if you wanted to use it with a PC running Windows or Linux).

[James Philp]

Originally Posted by Mitthrawnuruodo

Any dongle should work just fine (I've used a Keyspan to connect to my SonyEricsson T68i for a couple of years now from a Pismo and an iBook - no problems).

The D-Link in question should perform even better with your Mac, IIRC, because i think it is updated through Apples Bluetoots firmware updates (just note that, if that's right, this may make it useless if you wanted to use it with a PC running Windows or Linux).

From my experience with it, when i bought it (before christmas) it did not need any firmware updates (in my reccolection). I think the dongle is slightly better that the internal BT in that respect.
As far as i know, it works fine with PC, but is doesn't seem to be that that is an issue with you!

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Originally Posted by James Philp

From my experience with it, when i bought it (before christmas) it did not need any firmware updates (in my reccolection). I think the dongle is slightly better that the internal BT in that respect.
As far as i know, it works fine with PC, but is doesn't seem to be that that is an issue with you!

Ok, I might not remember correctly (I don't even have the D-Link adapter)... on the other hand the last Bluetooth update (1.5) was released Feb 5th 2004, so your dongle was probably up to date...

[James Philp]

Originally Posted by Mitthrawnuruodo

Ok, I might not remember correctly (I don't even have the D-Link adapter)... on the other hand the last Bluetooth update (1.5) was released Feb 5th 2004, so your dongle was probably up to date...

Yeah, i seem to remember my iMac needed it, but was suprised that the dongle didn't (think D-link were a bit savvy when it came to BT)

[Little King]

My D-Link BT adaptor never worked with Windows... overall though, it is a brilliant adaptor and wouldn't change it.

[TMA]

My S700i works great with a Belkin USB Adapter, but the D-Link one is said to be even better. It's small and smarter looking, and has a flashing Data light which is always good fun

I have had a few issues if 'Require Authentication' is enabled in the Bluetooth Preference Panel, under the settings tab. My phone seems to lock up 2/3 seconds into a bluetooth transfer and requires removing the battery to get it working again. But apart from that it's been working great for me.

I get about 21k/sec which isn't too shabby, although bluetooth is capable of more.

[dobbin]

Richard - I have a D-Link BT dongle that I no longer use as I now have built in bluetooth. If you'd like to buy a second hand one let me know. Are you in Bristol? I could meet you one lunch time or after work as I come into Bristol quite a lot (I actually work in Thornbury..)

I also have an S700i by coincidence - great phone isn't it?

[R.Youden]

Originally Posted by dobbin

Richard - I have a D-Link BT dongle that I no longer use as I now have built in bluetooth. If you'd like to buy a second hand one let me know. Are you in Bristol? I could meet you one lunch time or after work as I come into Bristol quite a lot (I actually work in Thornbury..)

I also have an S700i by coincidence - great phone isn't it?

It is a damn good phone yes. I have just ordered one from Amazon 30 seconds before I saw your post! If you are ever around Bristol let me know though, I may know someone who needs a spare. I am in Bristol for a couple of months now.